Chris Pehrson brings a distinguished background in organizational leadership, business development, program execution, and profit and loss management. He has over 30 years in the defense aerospace sector, both in industry and as a career military officer. He is founder and Managing Partner at Apogee Professional Solutions, a consulting firm established to help clients in the defense industry formulate and implement winning business strategies, drive sustainable growth, and foster cultures of excellence within their organizations.
Mr. Pehrson was previously Vice President of Business Development in the C5ISR Group of the Mission Technologies division at HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) where he directed growth strategies for a $1.1 billion line of business and managed a $20 billion opportunity pipeline. He served as Chief Growth Officer at Parry Labs LLC, a defense technology company providing cloud-native infrastructure and network solutions for highly-regulated military platforms. Mr. Pehrson also held multiple leadership roles at General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. As Vice President of Special Programs, Mr. Pehrson directed a $400 million business unit responsible for new aircraft development, quick reaction capability programs, commercial aviation programs, and flight test and training. As Vice President for Strategic Development, he led the company-wide strategic planning process and was responsible for promoting the company’s full line of unmanned aircraft systems and mission systems solutions.
Mr. Pehrson’s leadership extends to his military service as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he commanded at the squadron and operations group level, and served staff tours at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Headquarters Air Force, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He was rated as a Command Pilot and Electronic Warfare Officer, with over 3,000 hours in the F-111, EF-111, and C-130, including over 400 combat hours.
Mr. Pehrson’s educational background includes an M.S. in computer information systems from Boston University, an M.S. in logistics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a Master of Strategic Studies from the Air War College, and a B.S. in computer science from the University of Michigan. He continued his professional development through the Wharton Executive Education Chief Strategy Officer program.